Silent Witness (TV Series) Death by Water: Part 1 (2004) User Reviews

Something's missing, but the story is great.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 16 July 2018]

After Amanda Burton left the show it very much felt as if a huge void was left, but Death by Water proves there was life after Sam Ryan. A sense of mystery was definitely apparent in this episode, as a viewer you're as conflicted as Leo and Harry, which of the team was right?

Gaminara was given room to breathe without Burton and stepped up to the mark, Ward would shine through very soon. The antagonism was great between them, and a space would soon be filled.

Hard hitting, upsetting, and very intriguing.

8/10, very good.

Still Butting Heads with the Powerful

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 8 March 2019]

Sam's former colleagues are at the center here. It would appear that contaminated water is the cause of some serious stuff. The former love interest of a man who died after diving in a filthy place is trying to get to the bottom of this. At the beginning, some school children have become ill, one dying when he struck his head during a faint. But, as was often the case with Sam Ryan, there are powerful people that are obstructing the testing of water supplies. Then, as this episode closes, a horrible thing happens.

Harry Acts Like An Idiot, Leo Only Slightly Less So

[jethrojohn · 4/10 · 5 June 2022]

Blatant disregard for proper procedure makes Harry look incredibly dumb in this episode, as he insists that several kids getting sick is "all in their heads".

His constant headbutting as Leo, who knows something is wrong, tries to solve the case is just annoying.

Here we have Silent Witness at its worst, as the writers ignore common sense, proper procedure, and any kind of actual realism in order to give us cheap drama.

The episode also makes doctors look stupid, teachers look careless, and medical staff look like cold, uncaring idiots, all so that we can have a SHOCK ending that anyone can see coming a mile off.

An ending that could have been avoided if anyone was doing their darn jobs instead of acting like a complete nincompoop.